PHANTOM, MAMMA MIA! & CINDERELLA to offer Thursday matinees

Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia! & Cinderella will switch their schedules starting in April 2014 and will now offer Thursday matinees at 2pm. I personally feel this is long over due. I have to wonder if other shows might follow....Starting in April 2014

A Chorus Line played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013.

I've actually never understood the whole matinees are only on Wednesday thing. Seems like you'd have less competition spreading them out. Between this and the HEDWIG weekend schedule next year seems like changes for the better.

"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah

One show doing this on its own would be incredibly tough unless it was, say, Book of Mormon. Or Wicked. So the idea of joining forces is a great one. But...does ANYone think Cinderella will be open in April?

I started a blog! Cause I'm a nerd. http://100showsayear.blogspot.com/

A Chorus Line played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013.

Interesting that Mamma Mia! is losing Sundays in favour of Tuesday Evening and both Sunday evening performances, guessing the Sunday show weren't selling so have reverted to the old schedule with the exception of the midweek matinee.

I like the idea of a different show time availability, but I donít like that 2 of the 3 shows doing it are now dark on Sundays (especially as an out-of-towner who, when I come into New York, am counting on weekend shows). I hope many other shows donít follow suit in changing Sunday to their day off (itís also hard for me to believe that a Thursday matinee will draw more of a crowd that a Sunday matinee).

Chicago had a Thursday Matinee during summer of 2011 and the theatre was less than half full. No TKTS is available either, if I remember correctly. In theory it sounds like a good idea but does it actually work?

It does seem like if itís going to work at all, summer would be the time to do it. (Most) students are out of school and people are taking off of work (and, around the holidays, as the same would be true). In the fall and spring, though, itís hard for me to imagine that they would get a bigger house on a Thursday afternoon than a Sunday afternoon. They must be basing this action off of some reasoning, though, unless they are just hoping that the lack of competition in those slots prevails.

with three shows opting for the Thursday matinees, I'm sure at least one window at TKTS will be open to sell tickets for these three shows. Especially since all three are always at TKTS. aren't there a few off-Broadway shows that do Thursday matinees, too??

A Chorus Line played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013.

Book of Mormon originally scheduled Friday matinees for their first summer, then cancelled the idea, along with all those performances. (Maybe Chicago was hoping for the run-off business in general that summer, hence the Thursday matinees?)

I think now going at it as a block, especially with Mamma Mia and Phantom as the anchors, is a smart idea. These two shows alone will give more shows that have been wanting to try this the impetus to actually go forward, and that will give TKTS reason enough to open additional days. And don't forget they're doing this right in the middle of Spring/Easter Break period, which is prime for the tourists and groups. Definitely a step in the right direction.

"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008